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tv   [untitled]    January 30, 2013 6:30am-7:00am PST

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million of unmet infrastructure needs in the whole public housing complex, and that on an annual basis, the hud and the federal government were only able to come up with 16 million, and decreasing every year based upon their inability to get together on hud priorities, that we created hope sf. and out of that came a $95 million commitment. i'm going to see to it that not only every penny of that comes in, but there will be more coming from the private sector because hope sf is about the public-private partnership that we have, that we should never allow our public housing residents to live in isolation from whole communities that i enjoy, that all of you enjoy so much. because when we live in our communities, guess what? we have a neighborhood business district. we have job training. we get child care. we get opportunities to go to city college and work with our education institution so that we can better ourselves.
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we get child care to help us support the jobs that we need to build for our families. and i know as your kids growing up, they're going to understand these things more and more as they take up more responsibilities, right now keeping you from your brand-new bedrooms clean. [laughter] >> helping mom with the dishes, cleaning up to get your education to be the best person you want to be and go for the jobs you always wanted to have. this is the promise we have. it isn't just the physical structure. i know ms. youngblood and i know all of the people that have been invested in this dream know it for sure, that it takes a really whole community to do this. that's why we had such a great development team that came together and worked with us. john stewart, john is right here being led with his development team. we have howard here as well. you have the ridge point, which
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is i think the most mature of the housing managers here, ridge point's been around since '68, right? >> that's right. >> and all of you amassed together with the mayor's office of housing with hope sf, with the housing authority to make sure this dream comes alive. and, so, i'm just here today to say this is just the first of many announcements. we've got three phases just at hunters view. now, hunters view was seen only as a pilot project. and if you see the smiles on this family's faces and the other 25, it's working. this pilot project is working. it's working not just because of the physical rebuild, but the care that hope sf has is about the lives and improvements of those lives. we had residents of hunters view involved in every stage of this project, looking for job training, looking to be part of this, looking to help move in
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and being part of the establishment. and, so, they weren't just going to be sitting back, receiving the benefits of new housing. they're going to be involved in the actual aspects of it. and that's why it's so important to know that it's not about building the physical rebuilding of a place. it's about the investment in these lives and building their lives as we go along the way. doug schoomaker knows this. he was there from the beginning before olson. and olson was really working hard at the redevelopment. now we call it the commission on community investment and infrastructure. and we want to say that word a lot. because, yes, it's still the redevelopment promise that we had, but it's much more than that. and we want to get away from the old negative legacies that redevelopment had with many members of our community in san francisco, on to investment and infrastructure, investing in people, investing in their lives. as we rebuild physically here.
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you're also going to see a lot more parks, open space. you're going to see a community center here. you're going to see people that will see employment training as their way forward, not their way out. and people are going to want to live here. there are people that are going to want to buy the market rate housing that's going to be built here right next door and in and around the area. the affordable rental housing that will go up, integrated with the public housing, and you're going to see a reinvested management of all of the housing so that everybody sees their role being played out here. from the residents, to the managers, to the social service providers, to the businesses that will want to be here because they'll know they'll interact with residents very positively. these are, in my opinion, the best views the city can offer. amen. (applause) >> and it begins with the most beautiful people that live right here in this area, that
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no longer see suffering as part of their living environment, but see progress going forward. this is the promise of hope sf. this is personally what i recognize, what gavin started with his -- with the board of supervisors and make a big promise. but i get the lucky opportunity to see it through. i get to see the smiles of the people that are moving in and see their hopes continued. and again, it's the first of three phases for this project, but we have plans for alice griffith, for sunnydale, for potrero hill, for west side courts, every one of these will be touched. (applause) >> not just with their own money. we're going to see to it that our private partners, too, whether it's benny house or the sf foundation, the san francisco foundation that we are working very closely with already. they're helping me raise many of the private funds that go into the training services in
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support of services. and, of course, even our own staff at the mayor's office of housing at the cii. we're all buoyed by this. we all know at the end of it it's such a goal for everybody to have decent living lives and environment. that's holistic, and not just a fiscal rebuild. i want to emphasize as well that we have a lot of people to thank. and in addition to the board of supervisors and all the people that we have as partners already, i can't stop thanking constantly leader pelosi and her wonderful office staff. (applause) >> she is back there, still fighting for us on every single dime that we need to have. but, ghosh, what a fearless, dedicated leader we have in leader pelosi. she's been out here before. when we saw the ground being all kind of prepared for these verticals to go up, but she also knew that it's all about
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these positive lives that we're going to have. i want to thank hud. i mean, hud can be harsh, but they can also be a great partner when you get them on your side. and our d.c. office as well as our san francisco office, the hud officials are to be praised for supporting this vision. because hope sf came out of the hope 6 projects. and this was naturally led -- they started these projects as early as areas in portland and seattle and chicago. and we looked -- we sent our staffs out there and we felt that promise was may rebut what i did back here. this is a great vision and something that i will be glad to not only engage in and support enthusiastically. we have dcyf, maria sue is here and she's got all of the great training programs. along with our director of work force housing. i saw rhonda simmons and her team. we've got a lot of different
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agencies engaged in here so that nobody sees us as just the physical part of the buildings going up. we've got lives. these kids want to be here. they see this as their long-term place. they're part of a community now, one that's shared by everybody. it's the responsibility of everybody to share in this as well. and, again, i want to thank not only the sf foundation, but the enterprise community partners. they've been such a great partner with us as well. and they are working with us to make sure that the private sector and the nonprofit sector are engaged all the way through this. so, these are all of the different partners. it's complicated, yet housing authority and the way we did public housing was also complicated unnecessarily. and i know now this is the way forward. and this is what we have to do for everybody that lives in public housing. and we've got to get away from that isolation that we had been comfortable with in the past.
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now it can't be comfortable for anybody. the comfort level is about our future and everything else that goes with it. so, i want to thank everyone for being here. again, of course, supervisor malia cohen, you and i have got a lot of work to do. not just this year. we've got to finish phase 1. we've got to finish phase 2. we've got to finish phase iii. and we've got to give hope to everybody else that while we're finishing these things, nothing stops us from kick starting all the other projects for public private partnership. i look forward to doing all of that very vigorously so we can have many more tearless families and other families that waited way too long for this to happen. thank you very much. (applause) >> supervisor cohen. >> well, ladies and gentlemen, fortunate for you the mayor took all my talking points. [laughter] >> that just means less time we have to stand out here in the cold. thank you, mr. mayor, for your
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wonderful leadership. [laughter] >> good afternoon, everyone. happy new year. >> happy new year. >> happy new year to you because today we are in the beginning part of 2013 and we are in the beginning of a transition, not just for the gutierrez family, but for a community that has been in existence for over 40 years right here on the hill, ever since these barracks were built. we're marking the celebration today with this ceremony. but what's most important is that this is the physical manifestation of when words and policies come together, when people of like mind are focused and committed to moving one vision forward. that's why we're here today. that's why today is so important. yes, we've got a long list of people to thank and i'm -- my heart is overflowed with gratitude. but also want to give a special acknowledgment to the residents
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that endured the hardship of living next to a construction site. and want to recognize the -- yep. (applause) >> all right. >> want to also recognize the fact that we are in a position where the community is changing, but change doesn't mean that people are going to get lost. change doesn't mean people are going to be displaced. change doesn't mean that people those that have passed on are going to be forgotten. as a matter of fact, what we see here is an opportunity to give thanks and be grateful for those that have come before us, that have brought us to this place where we are today because none of us are standing here on our own, an island, isolated. in fact, what we're doing here is we're building a stronger, more vibrant community. this community is going to be safe. we're going to be able to raise our children here. we are going to teach our children, our public schools are excelling and we are moving forward not individually, but collectively as one community.
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when times were hard, we're going to stand together. when times start to get better for all of us. so, i just want to speak blessings over you and let you know that this is, this is beautiful. this is very exciting. also want to let you know that impart of a team that will continue to work tirelessly together with not only the residents association, by the way, congratulations ms. diva. (applause) >> we've got new leadership in the place. also want to publicly acknowledge you for the service and leadership for the many years. thank you as well. (applause) >> we have many matriarchs and patriarches that have brought us to where we are today. want to reiterate the development team, john stewart, [speaker not understood], thank you. you've had a big part of this. and enterprise community. nancy pelosi's office and staff, they've been with us
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lockstepfighting for dollars. our pd, our fire, our first responders, our friends and also many that work at hud, staff, residents like coordinators, the list can go on and on because we definitely need to acknowledge these, that this is a multi-, multilevel approach. i also want to pay my respects to former supervisor sophie maxwell who also had the vision and leadership to get this project started forward. also had the foresight to tear down that power plant that was polluting our community. so, we really are where -- we are today is a culmination of small, little incremental steps that we have been taking for the last 40 years. 40 years is a long time, but now we need to think about the future and going forward and take pride and protect our investment, protect our children, shop locally, the businesses and restaurants that are happening and coming in on 3rd street.
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this is an exciting time, not a time for us to be fearful, but to collectively move in boldly and claim our future. thank you. (applause) >> thank you very much, supervisor. at this point, again, i want to reemphasize the importance of the leader's office, leader pelosi. and i'm not sure if there is a representative from leader pelosi's office here today. they're probably very, very busy right now in dealing first with the fiscal cliff and other issues at washington, d.c. but the work we do here in san francisco, not only here but in all of our affordable housing, is really a partnership also with the federal government, using the tools that the leader has supported over the years, including the ara funds we received as part of this development, the low-income housing tax credits which are critical for the financing of
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this development, and all the other affordable housing developments in san francisco. so, again, we want to acknowledge the -- her leadership and her contribution and her support throughout her very long career for affordable housing in san francisco. at this time i'd like to introduce the president of the tenants association, diva youngblood. and one of the things that we wanted to do in this, you know, as part of hope sf, was this was doing -- building affordable housing, not for the residents, but with the residents. and we really tried very, very hard to consult the residents in the development process. it helped with resident associations as we developed the hope sf concept. i see dwayne jones. i don't know if fred is
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anywhere here, but dwayne and fred and doug and matt franklin really sought to solicit a lot of input from the residents because the goal of this -- of building housing is not to, again, not to just build it for the residents, but build it with the residents and build communities. and ensure that the residents have a say in how the developments will be constructed and operated in the future. and with that i'd like to introduce the newly elected president of the residence association, congratulations diva youngblood. (applause) >> hello to everyone here. this has been an exhausting journey. [laughter] >> it really has. but i actually see a number of people here that i really don't want to exclude urban strategy.
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they were here from the beginning for the residents good, bad, or indifferent. they went through some knocks with us, and i truly want to thank them and to whoever is here to represent them. i personally thank you, thank you, thank you. as well as to some of the faces set when i was not the president, i was the vice. and i do thank you, mr. dwayne, because it really has been a very taxing journey. and i truly hope that the y gina keeps that open door policy. i thank you for that. and to everyone that's here, thank you, thank you, thank you. (applause) >> all right. and again, thank you to the residents. we look forward to working with
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them on the subsequent phases and look forward to working with all the residents in all the developments as we move forward on this endeavor. at this point i'd like to introduce the president of the lead developer of this partnership, and that is jack gardner. without our developers, without our partnerships, we wouldn't be here because we need developers to design and create this and to secure all the financing. and i'd like to introduce jack gardner. (applause) >> thank you. thank you, olson. mr. mayor, i'm going to bring my kids to the next event because i want the mayor of san francisco to tell them to keep their rooms clean, too. [laughter] >> so, and these guys are like, that wasn't part of the deal. wait a second. anyway, after almost eight years of nonstop effort, i and my team are simply thrilled and
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overjoyed to deliver the first building in the first phase of the first hope sf development. it is truly a great day. it's taken the commitment, the hard work, the financial support, and the confidence of many people and agencies to get us to this point, many of whom have already been thanked. i need to quickly single out, of course, the city and county of san francisco, the state, the housing authority itself, hud, our private lenders and investors including enterprise, and most importantly the residents of hunters view themselves who have been with us in this journey. so, thank you to the residents and everyone who has helped us get here today. we are very honored to be playing a role in the fulfillment of the grand promise of hope sf, to transform the city's most troubled public housing complexes into vibrant and exciting new mixed income neighborhoods that better serve their current and future residents, their communities, and the city as a whole. bringing world class design,
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first-class amenities and construction quality, green building materials and systems, no involuntary re dent displacement, a guaranteed right to return to a new unit, and new job training, employment opportunities and comprehensive supportive services to hunters view, phase 1 delivers on the promise we made to the residents eight years ago, but this was not about -- this was about improving their quality of life and their prospects for the future, not about making a buck and not about taking the land away for market rate redevelopment purposes. * so, i am so proud to be delivering on that promise here today. with 25 units, the buildings that surround you represent just 3% of the total hunters view transformation to come. when we complete the two buildings up the hill, we will have gotten to 15% completion. when we start phase 2 next year, we'll be getting closer
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to a third. but one day, with the ongoing support and commitment of all of our partners, the residents, the community, we will stand in the center of an entirely new hunters view, a brand-new beautiful neighborhood on the hill that will meet all of our needs, all of our visions. wouldn't have been possible without the leadership of the mayor and the supervisor, without the commission at the housing authority, without the board of supervisors, a brand-new city on the hill that delivers on the grand promise and the vision of hope sf. so, special thanks to everyone who has been involved. and i think they've been capably and ably thanked already. i would just say special thanks to my partners at ridge point nonprofit housing corporation up here in bayview hunters point. (applause) >> thank you, larry. my partners at divine and gong incorporated, rick, divine and
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everyone who participated. to my team, from dan, to lawrence, john stewart, a special shout out to our very own margaret miller who has spent much of the last seven years of her life helping make this dream come true. (applause) >> so, thank you, thank you, and truly happy new year to all. thanks. (applause) >> thank you, jeff. so, this is, again, one of those san francisco moments, right? we don't do things easy and we want to do things that are pushing the envelope. and one of the things that we're pushing the envelope on is trying to look at how we provide for the services for the families. and one of the things that this unique to this development is that we have the campaign for hope sf. and this is a campaign which is -- whose goal is to raise $25
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million for funding of what they would call transformative or disruptive social services for the residents. the goal is to help the city overall do thing better, to find new things, to new services to provide, and to really transform the lives of the residents of today and tomorrow. as the mayor said, it's not about the bricks and mortars. it's about the lives of the people and the foundations are going to be a big part of that along with trent rohrer and hsa and the other city departments going forward. so, i'd like to introduce rich gross. (applause) >> thank you very much. that was a great description of the campaign. i can save half of what i was going to say. and thank you all for shivering out here for a few more
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minutes. [laughter] >> a number of you have heard me say before that i think this is the singlemost important urban initiative in the country. and i think that's true. and that makes this opening the single most important opening in the country. i think that what's really critical about this development is that it's working with the residents. we've heard that from all the speakers today. that's what makes a difference. and many communities across the country, when public housing is redeveloped, the residents are ignored or the residents are moved away or the residents -- or the new housing is enough. what's different about san francisco, what's different about hope sf is that's not enough. the campaign for hope sf is an initiative to raise $25 million for, as olson said, human services, to transform the neighborhood, the lives, working with the residents closely. it has brought in san francisco foundation enterprise, the
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city, and numerous other foundations, philanthropic organizations and corporations, all of whom are committed for the long term. and this will take a long time. hunters view will take a long time. there are seven other housing projects as part of hope sf. we are committed to sticking it through the long-term and i think that's really critical. one of the key aspects -- i work for a national organization that does nonprofit development and affordable housing. we know that the whole country is looking at what we're doing here, and that's really important. everyone thinks -- everyone thinks this is the right way to do it and can we do it here. and i think in san francisco we can. in san francisco we have corporations, we have a city government, we have residents. we have developers. we have a whole range of players in redevelopment public housing that will make this change. and that's really critical. so, i think the whole country is watching and we'll show them
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what san francisco can do. you all heard the phrase it takes a village. in san francisco it takes the entire city. we have the mayor totally committed to redeveloping public housing with the residents. we have developers like john stewart, divine and gong ridgeview who have sweat blood for years for this project. they should be incredibly proud of what they've done. lord knows they won't make much money at it. [laughter] >> we have, we have a board of supervisors supporting this for years. we have philanthropy i, we have corporations, we have hud, we have a whole range of people that are committed to this for the long term. * so, i just want to say this is one step. and there are many steps to go, but this is monumental. and congratulations to the residents and everyone involved in the project. thank you. (applause) >> so, at this time i'd like to
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sort of close the ceremony or presentation by thanking all those people that i didn't thank and didn't acknowledge who should have been acknowledged because there's just too many people to acknowledge. i know we have some commissioners here, both from the former redevelopment commission and the housing authority commission and some of the other commissions. there are just too many people to thank at this point. but i would love to just thank all of you for coming to share this moment with us. it's the start of something really, really big and it's nice for you all to be here in this very cold day to share this warm moment with us, a day that we will always remember. thank you very, very much. and we're going to have a little photo op right here. (applause) >> we have a key to present.
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